A flavorful twist on the classic elk burger that the whole family will love! Spice up your burger night with a few simple ingredients like teriyaki sauce, fresh pineapple, and quick pickled jalapeños. This savory, sweet, and juicy burger is bound to become the star of your backyard BBQ!
Recipe Highlights:
Unique Flavor: The combination of grilled pineapple, sweet teriyaki sauce, and spicy jalapeños adds a unique flavor to burgers that makes every bite delicious! For another way to use teriyaki sauce, try these teriyaki halibut bites or teriyaki venison jerky!
Juicy & Tender: Thanks so a secret ingredient and juicy pineapple, these burgers are anything but dry and boring!
Family Favorite: Kids and adults alike love the sweet and savory combination of a juicy elk burger topped with sweet pineapple and drizzled with sweet and salty teriyaki sauce. It's a winning combo that everyone loves! For another family favorite, try elk patty melts!
Ingredients
- Ground Elk: I like to use 100% lean ground elk meat and add bacon grease for the fat. If you have elk with pork fat or beef fat added in, that will work too! But you probably don't need as much bacon grease. You can sub the elk with another wild game meat like venison, antelope, bison, etc. Of course, this recipe works for beef too!
- Pineapple: Fresh pineapple cut into rings has the best flavor and texture for these burgers. But, you can also use canned pineapple rings.
- Teriyaki Sauce: I use Bachan's Japanese BBQ sauce for this recipe. While it's technically not teriyaki sauce, it has excellent flavor and is perfect for these burgers. Even their website refers to it as "teriyaki-ish." You can use your favorite teriyaki sauce as well.
- Cheese: To add to the spiciness of these burgers, I like to use pepper jack cheese. You can also use cheddar cheese, Swiss cheese, or your favorite cheese for burgers.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to Make Teriyaki Elk Burgers
Juicy elk burgers are just a few steps away with this recipe!
- Step 1: Thaw ground meat in a paper towel-lined bowl under refrigeration to remove excess moisture. This helps the burger patties stick together. Preheat grill to 350°F.
- Step 2: To a medium bowl, add ground meat, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, teriyaki sauce, and melted bacon grease.
- Step 3: Mix with your hands until the spices are well combined with the meat. Work quickly because the bacon grease will start to set up.
- Step 4: When you're done mixing, the bacon grease should be distributed throughout the meat.
- Step 5: Divide meat into 4 equal portions and gently roll the portions into balls.
- Step 6: Form each ball into a patty by gently squishing it between the palms of your hands. Patties should be about 4-5" in diameter.
- Step 7: Using your thumb, place a small dimple in the middle of each patty.
- Step 8: Place patties on the preheated grill directly over the flame. Drizzle with teriyaki sauce. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until browned on the bottom.
- Step 9: Flip burgers and immediately drizzle with teriyaki sauce and top with 1 slice of cheese per burger patty.
- Step 10: Cook for an additional 3-4 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the burgers are cooked through. You can add more teriyaki sauce on top of the cheese as well. Remove to a plate and assemble burgers.
Pro Tip
Shape your burger patties then refrigerate them for a few hours before grilling to help them stick together!
How to Make Grilled Pineapple
Besides the burger itself, the grilled pineapple is what makes these burgers so delicious. The sweet flavor is enhanced by grilling and is the perfect complement to elk burgers!
You can grill the pineapple while you grill the burgers, if your grill has enough space directly over the flames. Or you can grill it before you grill the burgers and keep it warm until serving.
- Step 1: Spray the grill grates with olive oil spray. Place the pineapple slices on the grill, directly over the flames. Drizzle with teriyaki sauce.
- Step 2: Grill for 3 minutes, or until grill marks are on the bottom of the pineapple. Flip and cook for 1-2 more minutes. Keep warm until ready to serve.
Elk Burger Variations
You can mix and match your favorite toppings to individualize these burgers. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Coleslaw
- Green Chiles
- Red Onion
- Mushrooms
- Bacon
- Avocado
Serving Suggestions
You can assemble your burgers however you'd like but this is how I like to do it! Spread mayo on hamburger buns. Place burger patties on the bottom halves of the buns. Drizzle with teriyaki sauce.
Top with quick pickled jalapeños, grilled pineapple, and lettuce. Place the top halves of the buns on top. Place a sandwich pick in each burger to hold them together. Serve with a simple side like fries or homemade potato chips. Enjoy!
Elk Burger FAQs
Elk burgers are delicious if prepared properly. Elk is a lean meat and needs some added fat when making burgers. Follow this teriyaki elk burger recipe for a few simple tips to make delicious elk burgers!
Melted bacon grease or pork lard works great for adding fat to elk burgers. It distributes well in the meat and adds delicious flavor and juiciness.
Elk meat is not hard to cook! You do have to make sure you don't overcook it to keep it moist. But it can be super simple to prepare!
Related Recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with burgers. Have extra buns? Try the brioche crouton recipe!
If you make this recipe, please leave a star rating and comment at the bottom of the page! This provides helpful feedback to me and fellow readers. And if you want more delicious wild game recipes, subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest!
Spicy Teriyaki Elk Burgers
Ingredients
Burger Patties:
- 1 lb ground elk (or venison, moose, antelope, etc.)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoon teriyaki sauce or Japanese BBQ sauce
- 2 tablespoon bacon grease, melted (use less if your meat has a good amount of fat ground in.)
Other Ingredients:
- olive oil spray
- 4 slices fresh pineapple
- teriyaki sauce or Japanese BBQ sauce
- 4 slices pepper jack cheese
- 4 burger buns
- 4 pieces leaf lettuce
- ½ cup pickled jalapeños
- mayonnaise
Instructions
Burger Patties:
- Thaw ground meat in a paper towel-lined bowl under refrigeration to remove excess moisture. This helps the burger patties stick together.
- Preheat grill to 350°F.
- To a medium bowl, add ground meat, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, teriyaki sauce, and melted bacon grease.
- Mix with your hands until the spices are well combined with the meat. Work quickly because the bacon grease will start to set up. When you're done mixing, the bacon grease should be distributed throughout the meat.
- Divide meat into 4 equal portions and gently roll the portions into balls.
- Form each ball into a patty by gently squishing it between the palms of your hands. Patties should be about 4-5" in diameter. Using your thumb, place a small dimple in the middle of each patty. If your patties have warmed up, place them in the fridge for 30 minutes to help them stick together.
- Place patties on the preheated grill directly over the flame. Drizzle with teriyaki sauce. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until browned on the bottom.
- Flip burgers and immediately drizzle with teriyaki sauce and top with 1 slice of cheese per burger patty. Cook for an additional 3-4 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the burgers are cooked through. You can add more teriyaki sauce on top of the cheese as well. Remove to a plate and assemble burgers.
Grilled Pineapple:
- You can grill the pineapple while you grill the burgers, if your grill has enough space directly over the flames. Or you can grill it before you grill the burgers and keep it warm until serving.
- Spray the grill grates with olive oil spray. Place the pineapple slices on the grill, directly over the flames. Drizzle with teriyaki sauce.
- Grill for 3 minutes, or until grill marks are on the bottom of the pineapple. Flip and cook for 1-2 more minutes. Keep warm until ready to serve.
Assembly:
- You can assemble your burgers however you'd like but this is how I like to do it!
- Spread mayo on hamburger buns. Place burger patties on the bottom halves of the buns. Drizzle with teriyaki sauce.
- Top with pickled jalapeños, grilled pineapple, and lettuce. Place the top halves of the buns on top. Place a sandwich pick in each burger to hold them together. Enjoy!
Notes
- This recipe uses a pellet grill but you can use a gas grill, charcoal grill, or cast iron skillet to cook the burger patties.
- Thaw your meat on paper towels to help remove off flavors. This also removes excess liquid which helps to keep your patties from falling apart.
- If your meat has fat ground in, you can cut back on the bacon grease. It adds juiciness to burgers that don't already have fat ground in.
- Don't overmix the meat or smash the patties too much. Gently mix in the spices and form the patties to keep the burgers from becoming hard when you cook them.
- Shape your burger patties then refrigerate them for a few hours before grilling to help them stick together!
- Adding cheese right after flipping the burgers helps ensure the cheese melts before the burgers get overcooked.
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